1. Field of the Invention
The invention to which this application relates is to a urinal or toilet facility and particularly, although not necessarily exclusively, to fixtures in the same such as a wall mounted urinal fixture or a toilet seat or a sink, mirror or the like with the facility provided in commercial premises such as, for example, service stations, public houses, stadia and non commercial premises such as public conveniences or even domestic premises.
The applicant""s co-pending application Ser. No. PCT/GB99/02064 discloses the ability to provide a visual display as part of a urinal fixture. The urinal is provided with a sensor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The aim of the present invention is to provide for improvements to the urinal or toilet facilities by providing display means and it should be appreciated that- the description of toilet or urinal facilities include those facilities which include any or any combination of the fixtures such as urinal facilities for males which can be wall mounted and toilet seat facilities or sinks and the like and in general any fixture by which a person is likely to spend some period of time.
In a first aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for a toilet or urinal facility, wherein said apparatus includes a screen for the display of video material, which screen is positioned so as to be viewed by a person when using the facility, a sensor provided to detect the presence of a person using the facility and/or at least one fixture in the facility, and characterised in that memory means are provided to allow the storage of data generated from the sensor to indicate the presence of a person or persons in the facility and/or fixture and said data is retrievable from said memory means on site and/or is transmittable via transmission means to the memory means at a remote location, for subsequent display, processing and/or analysis, to provide a record of the exposure of persons to the displayed material.
It should be appreciated that the reference to the toilet or urinal facility above and hereonin is used to define a facility which may include male wall mounted urinal fixtures and/or toilet seat fixtures and/or sinks, hand driers or any other fixture of a urinal or toilet facility and that the inventive features herein described can be used in conjunction with one or a number of said fixtures within the facility and the display screen can be mounted as part of the fixture or separately therefrom and viewable by the person viewing the facility
In one embodiment the facility fixture is a male urinal which is wall mounted and has a collection area leading to a drain and, depending upwardly from the collection area, a wall and wherein said screen is mounted as part of the wall section.
In an alternative embodiment the screen is located at a position removed from the male urinal fixture but viewable to a person using the same. On the occasion of the fixture having a number of bays for a number of users, the same may be provided with a display screen for each bay or, alternatively, a common screen.
In one embodiment the video and/or audio data can be supplied from a video tape/compact disc or recorded media apparatus located as part of the apparatus or connected to the display screens at a remote location within the premises of the facility ox at a location remote from the premises.
In one embodiment the material to be displayed can be updated from a remote location from the facility premises and/or the recording media which can be a video tape, CD or disc can be replaced or updated by the overwriting of data.
In one embodiment the sensor is arranged to detect the presence of a user of the facility or fixture and a means is provided to allow the storage of details indicating the usage of the facility and/or fixture.
in one embodiment the data from the sensor indicates the frequency of persons entering the area in which a fixture with a display screen is provided, and the data can be stored for subsequent analysis in which frequency and times of usage can be analyzed.
In one embodiment the sensor is provided as an integral part of the fixture or display screen housing and senses the commencement of use of the fixture. In an alternative embodiment the sensor is provided to react to the presence of a person in the immediate vicinity of the fixture. In a yet further embodiment a proximity switch can be used in which the person using the facility changes the condition of a beam of light hence allowing the detection of the presence of the person.
In addition to the sensor acting as a counting means, it can be used to activate a visual display or other features of the facility and/or a further sensor may be provided to allow the activation of the display or other features of the facility.
The provision of the display screen allows information, advertising material or other media to be displayed for viewing by the person when using the fixture.
In one embodiment the display screen condition is activated or the condition is changed in response to the insertion of a coin, token, or card into apparatus 21 (FIGS. 1 and 2) and 221 (FIG. 4) in connection with the display screen or by the activation of a sensor.
The user of the urinal may have paid for the activation via coin or token or card or, alternatively, may have been given same as a promotional scheme.
In one embodiment the display is for a game of chance such as a gambling game activated by inserting the coin, token or card, or alternatively, the user may be able to try and win by activating a sensor connected with the urinal and/or display screen.
In a further embodiment, the means for receiving the coin, token or card and/or display screen are provided as integral parts of the fixture.
It is envisaged that, in whatever embodiment, the display apparatus can be powered from a mains supply or alternatively by portable power sources.
In one embodiment the urinal or toilet facility fixture includes a sensor which is provided to indicate a change in condition of the fixture and wherein the sensor is controlled to react to a specified liquid or liquids.
In one embodiment the sensor is provided to change condition upon use of a male urinal or toilet seat and is controlled to react to urine liquid but not water so as to avoid activation during the flushing process.
In one embodiment the sensor used is a conductive sensor and the sensitivity of the same is adjusted to allow the same to react upon contact with some liquids and exclude others in reaction to the particular conductivity of the liquid.
In one embodiment the urinal or toilet facility incorporates a toilet seat fixture, said seat having mounted in the same or in proximity thereto a sensor, said sensor activated by the presence of a person on said seat or in the vicinity of the same.
Typically the toilet seat fixture includes or is provided with a display screen in proximity thereto.
In one embodiment at least one sensor is provided for detecting the presence of a person using the fixture. The sensor can be provided within the toilet seat and react to pressure applied thereon when a person sits on the same so that the sensor can be maintained in the activated state for as long as the person remains on the seat. When the person leaves the seat the pressure on the sensor changes and so the sensor can be used to sense the number of occasions on which the fixture is used in any given time, by utilizing appropriate processing apparatus to receive the sensor signals. In another embodiment the sensor is a switch device mounted on the seat to contact with the base of the seat with increased pressure when a person sits on the seat. In yet another embodiment the sensor may be a detector mounted in a position on or removed from the seat and which is positioned so as to detect the presence of a person on the seat. This form of sensor could be a PIR infra red sensor. In yet another embodiment the sensor can be provided to sense the flushing of the fixture, such as by detecting the use of the flush mechanism, or the presence or absence of water in the cistern.
It is envisaged that the sensor will be mounted and provided as part of the system which utilizes a screen display, typically positioned to be viewable by a person when sitting on the seat, and said screen can be provided to show advertising material, games or other forms of entertainment. The sensor system can be used to indicate to advertisers the number of persons who are using fixtures in the facility and therefore likely to view the advertising material,- to allow them to gauge the exposure to the advertising material.
In another embodiment, in addition to, or instead of indicating the number of persons using the fixtures, the sensors can be used to activate and deactivate the display of the material being displayed to them.
In one embodiment the screen or sensor or both can be mounted as part of other facility fixtures to the fixture used by the person at that time, such as, for example, being provided as part of a toilet roll holder or in or on a wall or door of the cubicle. Typically audio facilities are also provided to allow the listening of material to occur.
In a further embodiment of the invention the facility incorporates a sink fixture and the sensor is provided to detect the presence of a person at the sink and the screen is positioned to be viewable by a person at the sink. In one embodiment the sensor is provided to detect the use of the water taps of the sink. In addition or alternatively the screen and/or sensor are incorporated in a mirror mounted to be viewable by the person using the sink.
Thus the invention provides a toilet or urinal facility wherein said facility includes a screen for the display of video data and/or speakers for audio data, which screen is positioned so as to be viewed by a person when using a fixture in the facility.
Typically the front display of the screen or a screen enclosing the display screen is made of armored glass and the securing means for the same can be secured in conjunction with adhesive known as hot glue.